Ambassador Andrew Young recalls St. Augustine, urges faith-driven leadership at DeKalb MLK fireside chat

Ambassador Andrew Young, a longtime confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., spoke at length during a fireside conversation with DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran Johnson at the county's 42nd annual MLK celebration. Young recounted frontline experiences from the civil-rights movement and offered advice to contemporary leaders about faith, perseverance and pragmatic coalition-building.

Young described being sent by Dr. King to St. Augustine, Florida, in 1964 to reduce the risk that confrontations with hostile counter-protesters would derail congressional consideration of the Civil Rights Act. "Dr. King sent me to St. Augustine, Florida to stop a movement," Young said, explaining that the movement's discipline was designed to avoid the escalation that could have imperiled legislation. He recalled attacks by violent opponents and the group's insistence on nonviolence and prayer as strategic tools.

The conversation turned to governance and infrastructure. Young said cross-jurisdictional partnerships and creative financing shaped Atlanta-area projects he led as mayor. He recalled persuading neighboring jurisdictions to help fund a wastewater treatment project and described a regional tax vote that he said was notable for residents "taxing ourselves 1 cent and get[ting] 90 cents" in matching or outside funds. Young emphasized the importance of leaders finding practical ways to build consensus: "You have to learn to disagree without being disagreeable."

Toward the close of the program, DeKalb County presented Young with a lifetime achievement award and CEO Lorraine Cochran Johnson announced a county contribution to his nonprofit. Young used the occasion to emphasize that the movement's faith-centered approach and practical organizing remain instructive: "The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice," he said, urging attendees to combine conviction with coalition-building in public life.